In a move that should surprise no one, McDonald’s has announced that it is launching it own digital content channel for play inside of its fast food restaurants. It will be HD, and provided by two displays up to 46-inches in size per venue.

The content on the McDonald’s Channel will range from local news based on the location of the store, as well as local sports scores, and specialized shows called “pods” that will focus on different people in the McDonald’s sphere of influence. As a customer eats they will be treated to vignettes about mom’s who work at McDonald’s, athletes who are sponsored by McDonald’s, along with advertising for the different foods the chain produces.

Really, this make sense since customers that are eating inside the store are a captive audience looking for something to do as they chew or wait in line. McDonald’s has undergone a major overhaul in many stores to make the chain look like a “cafe” setting, which ties directly into this new TV channel launch.

Right now, McDonald’s play cable news stations, which ties in with their USA Today sales. In essence what they are doing here is monetizing this content. If McDonald’s creates proprietary content, then sells time to the local news channels, it is a revenue positive situation for them.

While McDonald’s may have lost some of its popularity because of the health concerns associated with its classic range of food, it cannot be said that the company is not intelligent when it comes to self promotion. Think about how cluttered media channels are right now with advertising, people are inundated with it. Brands need to find a way to differentiate their message to get it out there, which is exactly what McDonald’s has done. This is nothing new really, as McDonald’s used to put looped kids programming in their play-places.

Right now the content is being rolled out to stores in Southern and Central California, and will be in 800+ McDonald’s by the end of the year. Happy McTV waching!